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This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.
That said, on to the review!
Piemur, the impertinent and impudent scamp of an apprentice that terrorized the Harper Hall, has come a long way from simply being Menolly's assistant in fire lizard feeding. Most important, perhaps, is that his voice is changing. With vocal work negated for the present, he heads up to the drumheights where--hopefully--the Drummaster can keep him in hand...at least until his voice settles. Little does anyone suspect, however, that his ascension to the heights marks more than just his coming of age: he's on his way to the greatest adventure of his life. For aside from being the scapegoat of numerous pranks--harmless and sometimes deadly--he also receives numerous opportunities to prove his worth, whether it's thwarting illegal Oldtimer poaching or attending Gathers to listen to gossip or infiltrating a disgraced Hold or stealing a gold fire lizard egg or journeying across the Southern Continent! Now his only problem is: how will he get back to the Harper Hall and home?
Dragondrums picks up the story of Pern after Dragonsinger ends and before The White Dragon begins. Don't think it's entirely unrelated, though: Piemur--like Menolly--has a role to play in later Pern books. While we found out a little about Piemur before, we get to see his experiences first hand and without Menolly's not-so-objective perspective filtering things out. Of course, Piemur's perspective isn't so objective either, but that's all right.
Dragondrums is, in part, a coming-of-age story, and a well-done one at that. As with Menolly's two books, this one does an excellent job of following Piemur's ousting from one niche in life and his search for another. In addition, Anne McCaffrey allows us a glimpse at all of Piemur's multitudinous talents and consider how he can put them together to forge a career for himself. Among other things, we get to see another parallel to Menolly's story when Piemur Impresses his queen, Farli, and how his experiences with Menolly's fair shape his own. We also get a nasty lesson in how important first--and second and third and more--impressions can be as Piemur's reputation gets used against him. All in all, this book offers a wealth of intelligence and common sense to readers. Well done, Ms. McCaffrey!
As with its predecessors, Dragondrums continues with the shaping and development of Pern for readers, whether it's in the politics and society of the Harper Hall, the politics and society of the Northern Continent at large, or the politics and society of the entire world of Pern!
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